Dine Out in Naples to Support Earthquake Relief

Eating spaghetti or rigatoni all’ Amatriciana at three restaurants this fall will help the Amatrice, Italy, relief effort.

By Dorothea Hunter Sönne

Barbatella’s traditional spaghetti all’ Amatriciana is capped by a heap of pecorino shavings.

If devotion to red sauce is never a question, and you know the difference between spaghetti and bucatini, chances are you’ve had either of those all’ Amatriciana. But until a devastating earthquake on Aug. 24 leveled entire streets in Amatrice, Italy, to just piles of terracotta and stucco fragments, you may have not known it meant the dish originated in that historic town just east of Rome.

When it comes to disaster relief, every little bit counts—even a dollar here and there—and three local restaurants are pitching in to help: Sea Salt, Barbatella and Osteria Tulia. What’s incredible is that they are not alone. Just two days after the quake, more than 700 restaurants worldwide had unveiled similar campaigns of solidarity using that iconic dish. (If it hadn’t been for the earthquake, the town itself would have been celebrating its annual food fest, Sagra degli Spaghetti all’ Amatriciana, on Aug. 28.)

In Naples, Florida, each of the three restaurants will offer an all’ Amatriciana special available for lunch and dinner this fall, with a portion of your dining dollars being sent overseas.

Both Sea Salt and Barbatella (and Sea Salt St. Petersburg) are donating all proceeds from their $25 plates of spaghetti with the bacon-y sauce through the end of September. (Scusi, loyalists know that in restaurants of that caliber, it’s guanciale or pancetta.)

Osteria Tulia is doing its part by sending $2 from every $21 plate of its version with rigatoni (pictured at right), from now until Nov. 30, to the #eatforItaly #AMAatriciana effort. (The heartwarming global social media response was quick to make that elegant play on the Italian word for “love.”)

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